After almost two years of planning, I am now a temporary resident of Canada on a study permit. I am enrolled in the Master of Publishing program at Simon Fraser University, and have signed the dotted line on a large bounty for my head post-graduation.
And yet now that I’m here, my mind wanders. Images flash in my mind, looking out over a particularly beautiful hiking vista at Yosemite National Park. A place where I don’t have to identify a loonie and a toonie at a moment’s sight, or be asked if I have a bit for a Robertson screw. I can just relax and take in the view.
Sure, I’ve met plenty of people in Vancouver already. However, every fellow student I’ve talked to about my passions has deafened me with their yawns. The only thing most of them know about Portland is that it’s a gridded city and that there’s “cheap shopping” because of Oregon’s lack of a sales tax. Despite Vancouver’s friendly and livable reputation, all sources say that bike theft is so rampant that not only should I never take my Sweetpea to school, but I should even keep it well-secured inside my locked apartment.
Between the homesickness, culture shock, and other remaining sadnesses, this afternoon I thought about my ultimate goal: to be happy. The goal has always been the same, but what has changed in the past several months is what I think will get me there. Ten years ago, I was sure it was education, which is why for the past ten years my goal has been to proceed into the next degree program.
Well I’m here now, and yet I don’t seem to be any happier.
I do know this: the times I’ve been happiest are when I’ve felt like I had a solid, connected relationship with somebody. And it turns out that I just moved away from a few people like that. Except often I find that the happiness is one-sided: people become too busy for me or practice “out of sight, out of mind” and I’m left wondering what I did wrong. In other words: also not a guarantee for happiness.
It seems like the only thing left is one’s outlook on life. Is happiness a state of mind and result of positive thinking?
After several months of unintentional delay, I am pleased to announce my inaugural zine is available for purchase!
Beyond the Gate: An Ethnic History of Portland’s Nihonmachi and Chinatown offers a walking tour of Portland’s Chinatown neighborhood, guiding readers through major periods in neighborhood and national history.
Visitors and Oregon residents alike will discover why the neighborhood was originally named Nihonmachi, what event forced most residents to move away, and the slow rebirth that followed.
One of the people I wish I was more like is my friend Dana. Instead of having home internet access or the latest technological gadgets, she saves her money to pay for her vacation, which she usually spends helping people in Africa. She quietly makes her way through the world, living life as an opportunity instead of a battlefield, open to everything and easily befriending everyone. Despite my being a little hesitant around the many pastors’ kids who went to my suburban high school, my friendship with Dana has only grown stronger in the almost 15 years since we graduated. Dana was on my mind while I read Inside-Out Simplicity: Life-Changing Keys to Your Most Important Relationships, as she highly exemplifies most of the contents.
I however have a very long way to go.
The book structures its recipe for contented living from the inside out, reminding us in the beginning that having a good relationship with ourselves is the solid foundation for having positive relationships with others. This is a problem, as my relationship with myself has traditionally been rocky at best. Perhaps this provides the reader some insight on the grasp I have of the levels above this foundation.
Yipes.
Spouses, children, your relation to your possessions, even your relationship to a higher power, it’s all here. While much (but not all) of the content will be familiar to regular readers of Becoming Minimalist, organizing it in this way provides a good reference for self-improvement, or at least self-examination. If you’re overwhelmed by all the improving you’d like to see in yourself, just try to start working inside first. Or decide to try out one idea that sounds easily attainable, like volunteering or donating some money to a worthy cause. See what happens.
As an extra challenge, consider examining the questions that come up in your mind as you read the book. Haven’t donated for a while?–Why? How is volunteering supposedly rewarding? If you’re like me, you may discover you have a lot of work ahead of you to be the well-adjusted, happy person you want to be. While none of us are perfect, living with intentionality for the first time is a huge step towards feeling fulfillment on a daily basis.
The book aims to inspire and challenge the reader. Certainly I was challenged–slightly horrified, even, while finding myself questioning whether a huge life change I’ve spent the last year preparing for (and am about to make) wasn’t the wrong thing–whether the source of my unhappiness wasn’t quite what I thought it was. Guess you could say I wasn’t really prepared for the scope of this book.
But now that I’ve gotten gotten a toehold on the material possessions weighing me down, and my schedule for the next couple of years is pretty focused, it seems that this is the next frontier: using this list as a guide to try and achieve happiness.
And it’s no wonder–Sedaris is deliberate about reading his work, taking detailed notes of audience reactions to consistently improve both his writing and delivery. His distinctive voice reminds many of Truman Capote, whose short story “A Christmas Memory” is often performed at theaters paired with “The Santaland Diaries.”
Here are my top five favorite David Sedaris stories. But you don’t have to take my word for it! Click on the story title to listen to David reading each piece himself!
At heart, this is a story about culture shock. A class full of international students learning French tries to discuss their different experiences of the same holiday, using limited skills in their new language.
“The drama bug strikes hardest with Jews, homosexuals and plump women who wear their hair in bangs.” As a high school theater nerd and Shakespeare-phile, this story makes me blush. Sedaris gets the details spot on, and I never get tired of listening to this piece. In fact, I even make an appearance in this story as David’s friend Lois.
2. “Poems About Dogs“ (Appeared in Esquire) [Unfortunately, I can’t find a spot online to listen to David reading this one. If you ever come over to my house though, I have it on CD and I’ll play it for you!]
Sedaris has written a series of jovial poems to share the less glamorous parts of dog ownership with the rest of the world. Or maybe he just hates dogs. Either way, it’s hilaaaarious.
David’s brother Paul is the star of this story, although Amy makes a cameo as well. Rather than describe it, you just need to experience it with David imitating his brother. Paul operates a website, and Amy’s book I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence includes a recipe for the Fuck-It Bucket.
BONUS TRACK! Billie Holiday David is fairly well known for his impersonation of Billie Holiday. This is a segment from another great story, “Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities” (Me Talk Pretty One Day). You will never hear the Oscar Meyer jingle the same way again.
Bookish has been rather quiet the last couple of months, and might continue to be quiet moving forward. That’s because I’m preparing for some pretty big changes in my personal life, including moving to a different country(!) and starting a master’s program.
This has been a long time in the making–I was originally going to apply to the program at the end of 2007. It was at this time total lunacy started breaking out at my former employer, and if it wasn’t directly related to my job it pretty much didn’t happen–and even if it was related to my job (like keeping mentally healthy or getting enough sleep) often it still didn’t happen. Good times.
Anyway. Between the prerequisite books I’m to read before stepping foot inside the classroom in September, boning up my Adobe skillz as required, and trying to prepare for life in a new land, it is time for Summer School at Bookish HQ. (Sadly, not the kind that includes trips to Venice Beach and a German shepherd wearing sunglasses.)
Here are the books I am currently reading, or will be reading in the next two months:
• Adobe InDesign CS4: REVEALED (It’s maaaagic!) Last week I started an InDesign course at PCC, and we’re using this as a textbook. Interesting class. My mom and I thought we were choosing a traditional class over an online course, but our class is very non-traditional. Three classes–Intro to Word, Intro to Excel, and InDesign, are all being taught simultaneously. The textbook, in tandem with a PCC course packet, guide you through the work, and the instructor is there for support and grading. Our class time–three hours on Wednesday night and six excruciating hours on Saturday–is mostly just computer lab time. Attendance is not necessary as long as you’re getting your work done and are keeping in touch with the instructor so he knows you haven’t died. As my mom and I are sharing class materials and I was very sleep-deprived last Saturday, I spent a good portion of our class time napping on the bench outside our classroom.
• Help For Your Shy Dog Author Deborah Wood used to write the weekly pets column for The Oregonian. Her book seems to feature mostly moral support, rather than specific practical tips, for owners of fearful dogs. While I have not yet finished the book, my faith in working with Atticus on his fear has been renewed. I also recently discovered that Rescue Remedy is actually noticeably effective, which has definitely helped Atticus during fireworks season.
Unfortunately, Wood does not cover fear aggression very much, which is Atticus’ issue when he’s around other dogs. We still even have to keep him separated from Rain, the new puppy. He’s very slowly getting over his fear of her, but he will still growl if she gets too close to him. And because she’s a rambunctious 11 9 week old puppy who doesn’t understand warning growls, she will always get too close. They remain separated for now.
• Lonely Planet Canada About two months ago I got an email that began, “Dear International Student.” I chuckled. Yes, technically I am an international student, but not really, right?
Then a few weeks ago I was trying to wade through the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website to determine whether or not I needed to apply for a visa as a US citizen. The language was different than the legalese I was used to, and their 1-800 hotline didn’t work outside of Canada. It started hitting me: while I could be standing in the middle of Canada and not feel terribly out of my element, it turns out that yes, Canada is a different country with different laws and more confusing legalese that I don’t have a year to figure out all by myself. Now I assume that the International Student Office is going to be one of my best allies during the next two years.
Now that I have a new perspective, I need to study up. Lonely Planet guides have a great reputation for travelers trying to immerse themselves someplace else. The edition I have is not the latest, but I’ve had it for five years and it’s a good start that I don’t have to pay $26.99 to read. At some point I may also get Lonely Planet Vancouver and use them both for reference.
• Editing Canadian English Humble Canadians to the core, the authors have chosen to write a book of suggestions rather than edicts. As Canadian English is usually a mid-point between British and American English, there is a lot of disagreement even between Canadian dictionaries on spellings, uses of hyphens on compounded words, etc. Although I love style guides and this is a prerequisite book, it stirs up my fears about looking stupid by unknowingly messing up some Canadian English. Fortunately, I can switch my Mac’s default dictionary to the Canadian one–I hope this will help avoid embarrassing situations.
A favorite quote so far: “Henry Fowler declared that American and British English should not be mixed, an injunction that must leave Canadians speechless.” –Peter Sypnowich
• A Confederacy of Dunces “Like a bitch in heat, I seem to attract a coterie of policemen and sanitation officials. “
Right now I have six boxes of books behind me, waiting to be sold back to Powell’s. The more books I get rid of, the harder it is to weed more out. My beloved set of David Sedaris books is going–serious sacrifices are now being made in my earnest effort to lighten the load.
A Confederacy of Dunces is only the second book to be fished out of the box. While I can easily get it from one of the great libraries I’ll have access to, there’s something to be said for being able to pull it out at any time for a comedy break.
• Publishing for Profit If I’m to become a media magnate in just two short years (please note: this is not my goal), I need to know big business. What would Rupert Murdoch do? Already I’ve observed how PCC, with my InDesign class, is adopting a corporate model by minimizing expenditures and maximizing profit. But how can I be the front-runner in all things profitable when I believe that minimizing expenditures also leads to poor work quality–something I abhor?
While I do not wish to become more evil, I do hope to learn some successful business tactics reading this book. As a non-profit veteran, I definitely need to be schooled on capitalism. Right now, I’m not buying it. (Literally–ha!)
• Book Publishing I Published by the Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing at Simon Fraser University. A book of articles by students of the MPub program about various aspects of publishing.
•Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach A textbook about marketing. While I am excited to learn more about marketing, the 900 pages are putting me off a bit. While this is an older edition, I also suspect some new topics, such as marketing via social networking sites, will not be covered. Bummer.
• Essentials of Accounting (Workbook) If you know me well, you know that math-like subjects are not my forte. You may also know that when I am dreading something, I tend to put it off as long as possible. (Infer your own conclusions from the placement of this title.)
That’s the list. I’ve got two months to read five textbooks, get through my InDesign class, secure my student loans, find a place for Atticus and I to live in another country that doesn’t seem to have a lot of dog-friendly housing, and then pack up all my stuff and move there.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to go take some valium…
Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander (his real name!) is the landmark theoretical work of the anti-TV movement. As I whittle down my bookshelf, this is a title that I haven’t been able to part with yet. Instead of telling you just how much television I watched growing up, let’s just say this book blew my mind with its revolutionary anti-TV thinking.
The four arguments, each of which comprise a section of the book, are 1) The Mediation of Experience, 2) The Colonization of Experience, 3) Effects of Television on the Human Being, and 4) The Inherent Biases of Television. Sounds a bit wordy. The book is rather academic, but Mander goes places that others don’t. Awesome places.
One of the more abstract concepts he discusses, which took my brain a while to comprehend, revolves around what’s physically happening when someone watches television, from the type and patterns of light entering the eyes to the fact television viewers are being socialized to be passive participants in the world. Much of what he discusses has nothing to do with content–it doesn’t matter if you’re watching a game show or a documentary–another reason his book is an important read.
After discovering this book in 1998, I undertook my first TV fast, where I didn’t watch any television for a week. It went well–I seemed to gain a lot of time in the day, and even got to cross a couple other books off of my to-do list.
In the years since, I’ve done the TV fast several times, often as long as a month at a time. (I didn’t discover TV Turnoff Week until later.) One time in September 2003, I kept a log during the experience. Here’s an excerpt:
It seems to me that how my relationship with television works…is that when I come home, I eat, and there’s not much else I can do when eating except watch television. Then, it just sucks me in for hours. I could turn it off, but then I might forget to turn it on again for that great documentary on in a half hour, etc. Ultimately the nights fly by, and all because it’s hard to do things while eating. Then again, eating while watching television isn’t very healthy…
That particular TV fast was spurred by having read The Plug-In Drug by Marie Winn. Focusing more on the effects of television and advertising on children and families, Winn discusses television’s impacts on child health and development. Television’s influence on kids’ creativity, the lack of physical exercise leading to obesity (the edition I read was published in 1977…the problem has only gotten worse!), kids becoming über-consumers early in life because of targeted advertising. Although I’m not a parent, it’s easy to recognize how my own childhood was influenced by watching television, and how it even impacts me today. As an adult, I was given food for thought about how television discourages connection with other human beings and the world around them.
These days the telly at my house is off way more than ever before.
Feel like you don’t have enough hours in the day? Feel kinda blasé and numb during your “free” time? I’d recommend exploring the relationship you have to your television. Read more–there’s a great list of books here, or check out Kill Your Television. Do an experiment–give up television for a week and see what happens. Clean your house. Go for a bike ride. Read to the kids.
It’s amazing how much more you can do when television isn’t sucking up so much of your time.
Mason bees are native to Oregon. They are non-aggressive (you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone stung by one), have a lovely blue sheen, and are vastly superior at pollinating fruit and vegetables than the transplanted western honey bee. What’s not to like?
After several run-ins with mason bees in my yard, last year I took a workshop to learn how to cultivate them myself. Local mason bee enthusiast Sherian Wright gave a great presentation (much of which is available online), after which I got two tubes of hibernating bees and bought a little house for my colony to grow into. My new pets worked very hard during the spring to fill up their new home.
Naturally this year my population expanded, and I’ve been fascinated by observing the bees hard at work right next to my front door. In an attempt to learn even more about mason bees this year, I just finished reading The Orchard Mason Bee by Brian Griffin (no, not that Brian Griffin).
If you’re able, I’d first suggest attending the mason bee workshop at Backyard Bird Shop, where you can ask Wright any questions you have. The workshop is not free, but the registration fee pays for itself–you’ll receive two tubes of bees during class. (A brilliant moneymaking “giveaway”…Backyard Bird Shop is all but guaranteed to rake in even more money when newbie attendees like myself also buy a bee block so their new bees will have a place to work once emerging.)
If it’s no longer mason bee season or you want more information first, you could read The Orchard Mason Bee, or Wright’s book Mason Bees for the Backyard Gardener. There is also plenty of information available online through extension services of land-grant universities (like OSU or WSU), your local master gardener program, or even through Portland’s awesome Xerces Society.
If you’re not familiar, I suggest making acquaintance with our native bees!
The photo request was extremely specific: they wanted a brown pelican, in breeding plumage, diving.
I had just received the latest round of comments back from a project in California. The clients, a small town on the California coast, wanted to pack as much wallop into this photo as possible.
“What? I don’t even know what that looks like!” I muttered to myself. Doing photo research is really difficult when you don’t know what it is you’re looking for. Googling the words gave me plenty of photos, but I had no idea what breeding plumage looked like. Certainly, none of them were diving.
Needing a moment away from my desk to think and commiserate, I stepped outside my office, exclaiming my quandary to my coworkers in the lobby.
A totally unexpected source chimed in, “Oh…I’m better with ducks, but I have a book I’ll bring in tomorrow. You can see what breeding plumage on a brown pelican looks like.”
And that is how I was introduced to The Sibley Guide to Birds.
Several weeks later I had obtained a discounted copy through Edward R. Hamilton booksellers, after which it became my most referenced book at work after the Chicago Manual of Style.
As many of the projects I work on involve basic bird identification, I’ve found Sibley’s guide to be invaluable. The book includes ample illustrations of adults (male and female) as well as juveniles. Species illustrations are done by Sibley himself, ensuring that you see the most important features of each bird. Range maps show where each species can be found in summer or winter.
After getting the book, I soon became a full-blown birdwatcher–the book’s organization helped me with that too. (See some photos here!) If I came across a bird that looked similar to a species I already knew, I could turn to the known species and start looking at the nearby entries. Once when I failed to write down the species in a photo, all I had to do was start looking at the terns for a mostly black and white species that would have Humboldt Bay, California, in its range.
The arctic tern–BAM!
Half of birdwatching is being able to identify calls, which is a slight weakness inherent of the printed medium of this book. Sibley describes calls, which is helpful if you’ve heard something and think you know what bird it is. The iPhone application iBirdExplorer is much better for learning call identification. (It also fits in your pocket better than the Sibley book does, too.)
At one point I owned the Sibley guide along with three other bird books. I’ve already retired two of those, and the third, National Geographic’sField Guide to the Birds of North America will be going soon. It has absolutely no wear, because I never use the darn thing.
Why would I, when I have the Sibley guide?
Note: David Sibley has recently released a field guide to trees! Sources say it’s just as good as the bird book.
bookish 